Frank Hawkins, Jr. (born July 3, 1959) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

who played seven seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

from 1981 to 1987. He is also a former Las Vegas City Council member.

Football career

Hawkins' football career began in Las Vegas'

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

system and continued through Western High School, where he was a star running back. After graduation in 1977, he earned a full

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

, where he played for four seasons and was a three-time All-American (Division I-AA) at running back, and twice the I-AA rushing leader. His jersey #27 was retired by the Wolf Pack. In the

1981 NFL draft The 1981 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held during April 28–29, 1981, at the New ...

, Hawkins was selected at the end of the tenth round (276th overall) by the Oakland Raiders. With the Raiders in Oakland and Los Angeles, he also wore number 27 and played in

Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion 1983 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins and t ...

in January 1984. During that

1983 NFL season The 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts played their final season in Baltimore before the team's relocation to Indianapolis the following season. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII wh ...

, Hawkins and running back Kenny King combined for 1,119 total rushing and receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, winning the final game 38-9 over the favored

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. During his seven seasons with the Raiders, Hawkins was the second-leading rusher for three straight seasons, 1983-85. Nicknamed "The Hawk," his 5,333 career rushing yards at Nevada ranks fourth all-time in NCAA history behind

Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977), known professionally as Ricky Williams, is an American former professional football running back who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the ...

(

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Tony Dorsett Anthony Drew Dorsett Sr. (born April 7, 1954) is an American former professional American football, football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. Raised in western Pennsylvani ...

(

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

) and Charles White (Southern California). In 1997, Hawkins was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

Business career

Upon his retirement from football, Frank Hawkins served on the

Las Vegas City Council Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County, Nevada, Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave De ...

and was the first elected black official in the city. He served one four-year term, beginning in 1991. While in office, he was also a board member for the Las Vegas Housing Authority. Hawkins lost to former police office Michael McDonald in 1995 after the

Nevada Commission on Ethics The Nevada Commission on Ethics is a commission that investigates ethics violations by government officials or employees in the state of Nevada in the United States. It has jurisdiction over public officers and employees at the state, county, and ...

found that Hawkins breached ethics laws by profiting from a golf tournament whose participants included individuals who did business with the city. He now builds affordable houses, through federal Housing and Urban Development grants, in low-income,

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

neighborhoods in the same community in which he grew up. Hawkins is the current president of the NAACP Las Vegas Branch 1111.

References

External links

*
November 1997 article, "Former councilman heads effort to rebuild Gerson Park"

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Frank 1959 births Living people American football running backs Oakland Raiders players Los Angeles Raiders players Nevada Wolf Pack football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Las Vegas City Council members Players of American football from Las Vegas Western High School (Nevada) alumni